Why A Headhunter Contacts You, And What You Should Do Next

When a recruiter contacts you, it means you have expertise in a
field that they're interested in.

Dan
Martineau, president of Martineau Recruiting
Technology—which specializes in IT executive positions with
salaries of $85,000 to $200,000—says that when he contacts an
individual, it can be because someone has referred them, he's
read about them, or wants to learn more about a particular market
that they're in.

When a recruiter does contact you, Martineau says you
should sound eager, but not desperate.

"Desperate is problematic. Eager is not. I want people who
are eager and excited," Martineau told
us. "It’s only a good investment on my end if it's a
good investment on your end."

If you are interested after the initial contact, it takes some
time to form a relationship between the recruiter and yourself.
Most of the time, they are trying to fill a specialized position
so there's some research involved in trying to figure out if you
fit the role.

To get a better understanding of what's a legitimate contact from
a recruiter and what isn't, we included some examples that our
team at Business Insider has received. Below are
both good and bad examples:

This email seems like an appropriate way for a recruiter to make
initial contact:

Business Insider

This email is an example of something you should probably
disregard because no legitimate recruiter would write this: